These Ladies Are Underrated! (tag post)

Jenn left her tag post open to everyone, so I’m going to get it out of the way so that it doesn’t suddenly die off as these tags tend to do…

More rules…

• Please PINGBACK to me at Kate @ Melting Pots and Other Calamities. Or just Kate. And PINGBACK TO A SPECIFIC POST OF MINE. I won’t see the post otherwise, and I’d like to see it.
• Answer the questions.
• Choose female characters from books, movies, TV, anime, webtoons, etc.
• Tag as many people as you want, but at least one person.
• Have fun!

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1. Name a heroine you like, but whom you feel is always overshadowed by the male characters in the story.

Kotone Amamiya from Brave Beats. No one thinks of this anime anymore, but to be honest, Adrienne is kinda tropey in her girl power, which kind of leaves Kotone to be the only female presence with any particular impact.

Outside Kotone’s fear of chickens, ability to argue with Hibiki like a married couple (they are childhood friends, after all) and the fact her family runs a donut shop, she wasn’t particularly elaborated on as a character because the show was always busy working on someone else’s character development or dealing with some special event (don’t even remind me about pole-dancing buff Santa…urgh…).

…heck, even the Team Rocket wannabes Mink (a woman) and Tank have more presence than her, but notably those two are always treated as a pair, plus Kotone is meant to be one of our main heroes..hence why my answer is Kotone.

2. For that matter, name a heroine whom you feel is always overshadowed by the other female characters in the story.

Ami Mizuno, aka Sailor Mercury. Sure, she may not have had any offensive attacks for a good story arc or two plus she does get somewhat shafted once Michiru appears due to similar powersets, but she’s invaluable on support and strategy with her (rumoured?) IQ of 300…plus, having to tutor Usagi must’ve been a real pain in the neck…

3. Name a character who had potential but was greatly underutilised in her story.

I saw the person who started this tag had Naomi Misora from Death Note and I wholeheartedly agree, but I’ll abstain from choosing her and pick Yuri from Double Decker! instead.

Yuri’s shtick in the show is mostly exploding or hiding that she’s a robot for comedic and/or dramatic reasons, but…heck. Who made her? (Maybe Apple.) Why did she get paired up with Max? Why can’t we see the full extent of her awesomeness without having her be a deus ex machina, due to being expendable based on what the plot needs???

These are the real questions, folks.

4. Name a female character who you either find better in her book than her movie, find better in her movie than her book, or whose portrayals you find equal.

Shuko Suzuhara (Angelic Layer) is, in the manga, just a sufferer of severe shyness who is in the same company as Icchan, which is really disappointing when you come from the anime. After all, in the anime, she’s suffering from a neurological disease of some sort which prevents her from walking and Icchan is helping her with it by using Angelic Layer, which makes everything make a lot more sense (as well as making it a lot more played up for drama).

5. Name a character who you want more backstory on.

Floreida from Merc Storia. It’s implied (well, it’s stated in her game profile and hinted at in the 2nd Fairy Country episode of the anime) she had to do something similar to what we see Salodeah doing in her youth and Floreida apparently met Zephrodai through that, so I want to know exactly what she did, how she met him and so on, so forth.

6. Name a character with traits you feel are sadly overlooked by everyone.

I’ll side with Kanae from Classicaloid. She doesn’t have any capabilities as a Classicaloid outside that one time in the first season (at least, that’s been true for almost 2 seasons’ worth of episodes), which is why she constantly gets less focus than the people around her. However, her independence and ability to run a full household at her age is definitely something respectable, despite her being shown to be cranky a bunch due to her tenants and Sousuke.

7. Name a morally grey character (Villain or anti hero!).

The one character who keeps coming to mind is Fujiko Mine of Lupin III. Depending on the writer, she can end up kicking butts, using her feminine wiles or just being a damsel in distress, but Fujiko’s always on nobody’s side but her own.

Sidebar: As of this post, I haven’t seen The Woman Called Fujiko Mine yet – apparently the licensor hasn’t been doing too well due to movement higher up in the English distribution hierarchy – but I wonder if I’ll like Fujiko more after I watch it…

8. A character you’re stunned isn’t more famous.

Bishamonten from Noragami. Everyone remembers Yato, maybe Hiyori or Yukine, but Bishamon’s got everything…except maybe the occasional need for composure when she needs it (which is why Kazuma is the real MVP of the series by being able to rein her in). It’s because we’re following Yato and the schemings of Kugaha that we see the flaws in her household, but the way she’s written is the way heroes typically are.

Let me elaborate: She kicks butt, gives names and acts as a mother to her Regalia, all the while tolerating blight from them if the need arises. Not to mention she almost always looks flawless, if that’s where your priorities lie…

9. A character from a piece of fiction you’re amazed isn’t more famous.

Konatsu from Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu. You know I’m going to sing the praises of SGRS when I can and Konatsu was one of the best parts because she wasn’t looked down upon (after a while) for pursuing a traditionally male craft, even if she didn’t get that much screentime in comparison to the rest of the Yuurakutei family…but honestly, there are a bunch of female characters that get short shrift out there, which is why I had to promote her from the first question to the ninth.

Basically…just do yourself a service and watch SGRS if you haven’t already, y’all.

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As for nominations…to cheer Irina up, I’ll nominate her for this. (Update: If you want to see more underrated ladies, see Megan’s post.) Plus, of course, if you want to do it, then by all means tell me in the comments and I’ll link you in as well.

So is there a female character you think needs more love? Do we not see eye-to-eye on a certain character? Sound off in the comments.